Office Depot Inc (ODP)’s Merger Is Last Desperate Attempt at Survival

Well, Office Depot and Office Max haven’t. Staples, on the other hand, has invested heavily in its online presence and has positioned itself as the number two online retailer behind only Amazon. According to Compete.com, Staples received 11.8 million unique visitors to its website in January, while Office Depot received 5.7 million unique visitors and Office Max only 3.6 million unique visitors. So not only is the merged company still behind in brick-and-mortar profitability, it is also behind on the rush to establish an online presence. None of this sounds good for the merged entity.

Move on to Another Investment

Investing in a declining company that resides in a declining industry is a recipe for sub-par returns. It is becoming more apparent that Amazon and Staples will eventually become the only big players in the office supply market, with possible competition from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)‘s Sam’s Club and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST). But whatever the industry looks like 10 years from now, I’m almost positive neither Office Depot nor Office Max will be a meaningful part of it.

The article Office Supplies Merger Is Last Desperate Attempt at Survival originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Ted Cooper.

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